Looking for server room/closet cooling help and recommendations
I usually only read the TL;DR so I'm only going to write one.
My lab is in a small room that's getting very hot. I'm considering punching small/repairable holes in my apartment walls to run water cooling to a nearby room where I can vent the heat.
I need recommendations/wisdom around picking out a set of radiators, fans, fittings, reservoirs, and pumps since I have not done any water cooling before.
I was thinking about using this heat exchanger in the server room with some 3D printed brackets for standard PC fans and something like this aquarium cooler for the outside portion.
thanks in advance!
Posted May 18, 2020, 4:51 PM UTC
15
Long distance water cooling is a bit different than just venting outside the case. And more complicated.
Also it depends on what is driving the heat - CPU, GPU, hard drives, etc.
If you are in an apartment and reasonably handy you could probably just add a vent to equalize the rooms and do a neat enough job that you can leave it.
Is there anything in particular that I should lookout for?
I believe the heat is almost entirely cpu driven.
I'm a little hesitant to go the vent route since that would let more fan noise out of the room. That's not a huge deal but it would be nice to avoid.
Hard to know without more details.
Hardware, room size, what the use cases are, is there an outdoor window nearby for example? Where you are located.
It may be a water cooling solution is the best. Hell you may even go crazy and get into mineral oil or whatever.
Realistically just plan on maybe using a pump to circulate the fluid instead of just convection and realize the long loop means more risk of leaks and spills etc.
Definitely document as you go as I have looked into liquid cooling my 4U but it is complicated.